The Collegium 1704 orchestra and its conductor Václav Luks reunite with a major composer of the Baroque period: Antonio Vivaldi. This \*Arsilda\* already foreshadows the dramatic flair of \*Orlando Furioso\*, which Vivaldi would compose ten years later, and through it, he began to establish his reputation as a magician of the Venetian stage. It was his third opera, and a resounding success. Yet, its rediscovery took time. It wasn’t until the turn of the millennium that the work was performed again. In 2017, \*Arsilda\* embarked on a European tour, stopping in Vienna, Lille, Luxembourg, London, and Versailles.

The opera contains all the delights that captivated Baroque audiences – love, intrigue, disguises, and androgynous thrills – along with several moments of bravura: a breathless hunting scene, revelations in a dungeon, and a ballet crowning this intricate plot. 

To bring this Venetian masterpiece to life, one of today’s most renowned Baroque orchestras, the Collegium 1704, led by Václav Luks, will take the stage. Their reputation now extends far beyond the Czech Republic, thanks in part to a memorable production of \*Rinaldo\* in 2010 and the brilliant revival of Josef Mysliveček’s \*L’Olympiade\* in 2013, which left a lasting impression.

For this production, the staging is by David Radok, a familiar name in major opera houses across Eastern and Northern Europe, with scenography by sculptor Ivan Theimer, whose works modestly adorn a few exceptional locations: the Boboli Gardens in Florence, the Champs-de-Mars in Paris, and the gardens of the Élysée Palace… A fitting backdrop for \*Arsilda, Queen of Pont\*, to claim the stature she deserves.